Method for deterring counterfeiting of articles, for instance valuable articles, and system therefor

Abstract

 The invention relates to a method for deterring counterfeiting of articles (24), for instance valuable articles (24), including providing (2) each article (24) with an article reference (26) attached thereto; providing (4) each article (24) with a certificate (28); providing (6) each certificate (28) with a certificate reference (30) attached thereto; and providing (8) a database (38) with each article reference (26), the corresponding certificate reference (30) and a corresponding substitutable owner reference (32). The method further includes receiving (10), through electronic or computer means, an article reference (26), a certificate reference (30) and a substitutable owner reference (32); checking (12) whether the article reference (26), the certificate reference (30) and an owner reference (32) match in the database (38); and, if the article reference (26), the certificate reference (30) and the owner reference (32) match, returning (14) a first signal. The invention also relates to a system for deterring counterfeiting of articles (24).

Description

Field of the invention

[0001] The invention relates to a method for deterring counterfeiting of articles, for instance valuable articles, including the steps of providing each article with an article reference affixed or attached thereto; providing each article with a certificate; providing each certificate with a certificate reference affixed or attached thereto; and providing data storing means with each article reference, the corresponding certificate reference and a corresponding substitutable owner reference.

[0002] The invention also relates to a system for deterring counterfeiting of articles, for instance valuable articles, including articles and certificates, wherein each article is provided with an article reference affixed or attached thereto; each article is provided with a certificate; each certificate is provided with a certificate reference affixed or attached thereto; and further including data storing means provided with each article reference, the corresponding certificate reference and a corresponding substitutable owner reference.

Description of prior art

[0003] Such methods and systems are known from the art. For instance, the European patent application EP 0 957 459 A1 discloses a system for verifying ownership of articles, based on attributing a unique article number and a certificate to each article. The certificate carries an individual certification number different from the article number. A central computer with a storage contains a list of matching pairs of article and certification numbers. The system can be queried by entering both the article and certification numbers. The system then returns an indication of whether the two numbers match or not. If they match, the article is considered to be authentic.

[0004] In one embodiment of the above-referred prior art system, a storage is provided for storing a current owner or an owner history for each article. Additionally, access privilege is attributed, i.e. only the current owner is allowed to enter a transferral of ownership into the database.

[0005] The methods and systems of the art, such as the system described above, are neither immune to counterfeiting nor are they efficiently deterring counterfeiting. Indeed, a counterfeiter may still copy any number of times both the article and the certificate along with their article and certification numbers. Interrogating the database returns that the two numbers match even though the article and certificate are both forgeries.

Summary of the invention

[0006] It is an object of the invention to provide a method and a system which more efficiently deter counterfeiting of articles.

[0007] To this end, the method further includes the steps of receiving, through electrical, electronic or computer means, a query including an article reference, a certificate reference and an owner reference; checking, through electrical, electronic or computer means, whether the article reference, the certificate reference and the owner reference match in the data storing means; and if they match, returning, through electrical, electronic or computer means, a first signal.

[0008] When the first signal is returned, the article may be said to be authentic or identified as authentic. In the description, the expressions "the first signal is returned" or "the article is identified as authentic" are used indifferently to refer to what results from the situation in which the article reference, the certificate reference and the owner reference match.

[0009] When the method and device disclosed in EP 0 957 459 A1 are put into operation on a class of articles, said method and device neither prevent nor deter a counterfeiter from copying both the article and the certificate along with their respective reference, in which case each counterfeited pair of article and certificate are identified as an authentic pair. Indeed, when an article number and a certification number are received, means are provided for verifying in a storage whether said numbers are attributed to the same article. The means indifferently return a signal indicating that the article number and a certification number match whether or not the article and the certificate are genuine, and whoever sends the query to the database.

[0010] In the method and device of the prior art, there is no means for deterring counterfeiting of articles in case when both the article and the certificate are copied along with their respective article and certificate numbers. Providing a storage with the current owner or the owner history for each article does not constitute, on the one hand, sufficiently efficient deterring means, and it may raise privacy concerns on the other hand. This feature does not efficiently deter counterfeiting of articles since any person may verify whether a pair of article and certificate numbers match in the database, and said person would then obtain an indication that the article is authentic even though it is actually not. Privacy concerns may also be raise since anyone may obtain information about the owner of a given article and since the owner needs to reveal its identity to prove to a third party that the article is authentic, something which may not be desirable in many situations.

[0011] Additionally, in the prior art system, access privilege is attributed, i.e. only the current owner is allowed to enter a transferral of ownership into the database. This does not alter the fact that if a pair of article and certificate numbers match in the data base, the system returns an indication that the article is authentic.

[0012] In contrast, when the method according to the invention is put into operation, three references are required to obtain the first signal, i.e. a signal indicating that the article is authentic. Receiving two of the three references does not make it possible to obtain information regarding an article's authenticity.

[0013] When a party purchases an authentic article from a trusted retailer, he receives a certificate and a owner reference (or password). In the event the party copies the article and the certificate, he might then be able to sell the forged article and forged certificate as if they were the original authentic article and certificate. The party, who may be called "the counterfeiter", may do so, in the presence of the potential purchaser, by sending a query to the data storing means. The first signal would then be returned, indicating that the article is deemed to be authentic. The purchaser would then be confident that the article is authentic and he would then substitute the current password (the current owner reference) with his own password (his own owner reference). The owner reference is indeed capable of being substituted in the data storing means.

[0014] Once the owner reference has been modified by the purchaser, the counterfeiter would be left with no means anymore to prove that a pair of article and certificate references are authentic. In other words, the counterfeiter would have no means anymore to indicate an article's authenticity by sending a query to the data storing means.

[0015] The counterfeiter would be left with no possibility to utter yet another forged article with the same pair of article reference and certificate reference. An in the event the counterfeiter had bought an original article to forge the copy, the counterfeiter would further be left with no means to identify the original article as an authentic article through the use of the method according to the invention.

[0016] Accordingly, the method of the invention more efficiently deters counterfeiting of articles.

[0017] The method disclosed in European patent EP 1 204 078 solves the same above-described problem in view of the prior art, i.e. providing a method which is more efficient in deterring counterfeiting of articles. However, the proposed solution is different. The method disclosed in EP 1 204 078 consists in adding a geographical verification by comparing the article's position to the area attributed to the article. This prior art solution is based on the assumption according to which, if an authentication query relating to a given article comes from an area far away from the predetermined area associated with the article, this is likely to indicate fraud activities carried out in relation with the article, i.e. counterfeiting.

[0018] The method according to the invention deters counterfeiting of articles wherever counterfeiting is carried out, and not only far away from a predetermined area. The method according to the invention deters counterfeiting and constitutes a technical tool that leads to an improved atmosphere of mutual confidence amongst the actors on the luxury goods market, i.e. brand owners, manufacturers, importers, retailers, buyers, sellers, etc.

[0019] As a further advantage, the method according to the invention may be used to deter insurance fraud and false insurance claims. In case of theft of an article provided with a given article reference, an insurance company may require the article owner to provide the certificate (and the certificate reference) as well as the owner reference as a condition for receiving any compensation. If the claimant does not provide a valid triplet, the insurer would not award him any compensation. If the claimant is able to do so, the insurer may change the owner reference and may award the claimant with a compensation while being reassured that the article cannot be sold anymore as an authentic article.

[0020] As a further advantage, prestige and values of goods may be improved thanks to the method and system according to the invention.

[0021] In one embodiment of the invention, the certificate is provided with conventional security features, such as holograms, fine printed patterns, magnetic strips, to make it difficult to copy. These additional security provisions are not indispensable however, in contrast with the prior art method disclosed in EP 0 957 459. The certificate according to the invention may be structurally very simple.

[0022] In one embodiment of the invention, the data storing means according to the invention is secure in such a manner as to make it impossible, or very difficult at least, to obtain a valid triplet consisting of an article reference, a certificate reference and an owner reference, without the required permissions.

[0023] The invention also relates to an above-described system for deterring counterfeiting further including electrical, electronic or computer receiving means for receiving a query including an article reference, a certificate reference and an owner reference; electrical, electronic or computer checking means for checking whether the article reference, the certificate reference and the owner reference match in the database; and electrical, electronic or computer returning means for returning, if the article reference, the certificate reference and the owner reference match, a first signal.

[0024] In one embodiment of the invention, the article reference and its corresponding certificate reference are not derivable or substantially not derivable for one another. To this end, they may be randomly chosen.

Short description of the drawings

[0025] These and further aspects of the invention will be explained in greater detail by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which :

Fig.1 shows a schematic flow chart representation of an embodiment of the method according to the invention;

Fig.2 shows a schematic flow chart representation of another embodiment of the method according to the invention;

Fig.3 shows a schematic view of the inputs of an embodiment of the method according to the invention; and

Fig.4 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of the system according to the invention.

[0026] The figures are not drawn to scale. Generally, identical components are denoted by the same reference numerals in the figures.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments

[0027] An embodiment of the method according to the invention will be now described with reference to both Fig. 1, a schematic flow chart representation, and Fig. 3, a schematic view of the inputs.

[0028] The method for deterring counterfeiting of articles 24 may be applied to any kind of articles, objects, items, products, merchandises, consumer goods, trademarked goods or branded luxury goods which are transferable and capable of being owned, in particular valuable articles, such as handbags, purses, luggages, watches, pens, garments, jewelry, belts, bracelets, pendants, chains, diamonds, art objects, paintings, sport collectibles, autograph memorabilities, accessories, bottles of wine, or the like.

[0029] The method includes the steps of providing 2 each article 24 with an article reference 26; providing 4 each article 24 with a certificate 28; and providing 6 each certificate 28 with a certificate reference 30. These steps need not necessarily be carried out according to the sequence illustrated in Fig. 1. The article reference 26, certificate reference 30 and owner reference 32 (see below), whatever the names by which they are called, for instance respectively "product code" or "product key", "certification code" or "private key" and "password", may be numbers, words, alphanumeric expressions, keys, codes or any string or combination of signs, characters, letters, digits or ideograms.

[0030] The article reference 26 and certificate reference 30 may also be patterns such as bar code, two-dimensional or three-dimensional patterns capable of being recognized by mechanical, electrical, electronic or computer means. They are affixed or attached respectively to the article 24 or certificate 28, by any kind of fastening means. That is, they may for instance be imprinted, embossed, engraved, directly or indirectly affixed or attached, fastened with an adhesive material, such as glue or tape, with a chain, a cord, clips, staples, magnetic fastening means, or the like. They may also be magnetically, electronically stored on or in the article 24 or certificate 28, or in a integrated circuit or microchip fastened to the article 24 or certificate 28.

[0031] The article reference 26 and certificate reference 30 may physically be provided by the manufacturer or later on by the brand owner or retailer for instance. This may be done through a random number generator algorithm, or through a dedicated algorithm.

[0032] The article reference 26 is attached or affixed to the article 24 so as to mark it in a substantially lasting manner. The article reference 26 is not intended to change.

[0033] The certificate 28 serves as a support for the certificate reference 30 and may be a simple voucher or alternatively a more elaborate item. The certificate reference 30 is not intended to change, and needs not be kept secret.

[0034] The method further includes the step of providing 8 data storing means 38 with each article reference 26, the corresponding certificate reference 30 and a corresponding substitutable owner reference 32. The data storing means 38 may for instance be a database, a computer file or a register, and may for instance be accessible through a computer, a telephone network or any remote communication channel. The data storing means 38 may contain further optional fields besides the article reference field, the certificate reference field and the owner reference field. Optional fields may include a field indicating whether or not the pair has already been attributed (this is particularly useful if the article and certificate references are attributed prior to the article manufacture), a field describing the article and/or its status. Data storing means may be brand-specific or general purpose oriented.

[0035] The owner reference 32, or password, is intended to be kept secret by the owner of the article 24. It may be substituted or modified any number of times. In one embodiment of the invention, the owner reference 32 is conditionally substitutable provided that a matching triplet exists, as illustrated with reference to Fig. 2 (see below). Owner references 32 may be memorizable strings of letters, of numbers, of combined letters and numbers, or of any other signs as described above, whatever is the length of the string. They may also be patterns which are not intended to be memorized such as signature patterns, fingerprints, eye retinas and irises, voice patterns, facial patterns, hand measurements, genetic fingerprints or any physical characteristics used to identify individuals in the field of biometrics. They may also be any types of digital signature saved on any type of medium, for instance a digital signature stored on an electronic ID card.

[0036] Once the four initialization or configuration steps have been performed, any party may query the data storing means 38, for instance by sending an HTTP request to a dedicated web server. The step of receiving 10 the triplet of references, i.e. the article reference 26, the certificate reference 30 and the owner reference 32, may take place at any time whenever necessary or desired, not only when an article 24 is transferred or sold.

[0037] After the step of receiving 10 the triplet, the method includes a step of checking 12 whether the three references match in the database 38. Checking 12 may for instance consist in transforming the HTTP request into a data retrieval operation, beginning a database transaction, executing the query, for instance an SQL SELECT query, and committing the transaction. If a row comprising the three submitted references exists in the corresponding columns of the database, then the references match.

[0038] If the references exist in a row, if they match, the step of returning 14 a first signal is carried out. This may prompt a client computer to display a message indicating that the article reference 26 and the certificate reference 30 match, and that the article is deemed to be authentic.

[0039] Otherwise, the step of returning 16 a second signal is carried out. This may prompt a client computer to display a message indicating that the correspondence between the article reference 26 and the certificate reference 30 cannot be verified. Alternatively, returning no signal may be possible.

[0040] Fig. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the method according to the invention, further including a step of returning 18 along with the first signal, or shortly after the first signal is returned or within a given session, a third signal indicating the possibility of replacing the owner reference. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of receiving 20 a new owner reference; and a step of substituting 22 the owner reference 32 in the data storing means 38 with the new owner reference. An SQL UPDATE query may for instance be used for the substitution.

[0041] In other words, the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 2 provides an owner reference substitution method or a new owner reference recording method. As soon as the transfer from a first to a second party has been enacted by the substitution of owner references, only a person knowing the owner reference 32 can verify the correspondence between the article reference 26 and the certificate reference 30, or in other words the article's 24 authenticity.

[0042] Fig. 4 illustrates a schematic representation of an embodiment of the system according to the invention where the receiving means 34, the checking means 36, the data storing means 38 and the returning means 40 are illustrated by black boxes. A query containing the triplets of references is transmitted 10 via a network to the receiving means 34. The checking means 36 query the data storing means 38, for instance by establishing a transaction database and by executing an SQL SELECT query. Then the returning means 40 transforms the physical bits such that either a first signal or a second signal is returned on the network, according to whether or not the triplet exists in the database 38.

[0043] The receiving means 34, the checking means 36, the data storing means 38 and the returning means 40 may for instance be implemented through a microprocessor with a central processing unit (CPU) and a memory unit.

[0044] In one embodiment of the invention, either the system or the method, in the cases where several triplets are successively received 10 from the same location or origin, or in the cases said triplets relates to the same pair of article and certificate references, the method and the system may be configured to cause a delay or threshold mechanism to be initiated, in order to deter brute force attacks or the like. Since temporary denial of service in relation to a particular article may occur, this mechanism should only be carried out under certain conditions, for instance if the certificate reference 30 is not public, according to the data storing means' proprietor desire. In one embodiment, IP addresses are recorded to track a person trying to crack the system.

[0045] In one embodiment, each article reference 26 and/or certificate reference 30 are unique, that is, unique in the data storing means 38.

[0046] In one embodiment, each certificate reference 30 is different from the corresponding article reference 26. This does not prohibit however an article reference 26 from being identical to a certificate reference 30 which corresponds to another article reference 26.

[0047] In one embodiment of the method according to the invention, the step of providing 8 the data storing means 38 with each article reference 26, the corresponding certificate reference 30 and a corresponding substitutable owner reference 32 further includes providing the data storing means 38 with at least a fourth reference. In this embodiment, the further steps of receiving 10, checking 12 and returning 14,16 apply mutatis mutandis. In one embodiment, the nth reference, n being equal or larger than 4, serves to enable the validation of the (n-2)th and (n-1)th references. These embodiments provides increased security guarantees.

[0048] It will be clear for the person skilled in the art that the steps of receiving 10, returning 14,16 and checking 12, may be carried through a public or private network, via any transmission protocol, and through a secure communication or not. Data phone communications or SMS messages may also be used.

[0049] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited by what has been particularly shown and described hereinabove. The invention resides in each and every novel characteristic feature and each and every combination of characteristic features.

Claims

1. Method for deterring counterfeiting of articles (24), including the steps of
providing (2) each article (24) with an article reference (26) affixed or attached thereto;
providing (4) each article (24) with a certificate (28);
providing (6) each certificate (28) with a certificate reference (30) affixed or attached thereto; and
providing (8) data storing means (38) with each article reference (26), the corresponding certificate reference (30) and a corresponding substitutable owner reference (32);
characterized in that the method further includes the steps of
receiving (10), through electrical, electronic or computer means, an article reference (26), a certificate reference (30) and an owner reference (32);
checking (12), through electrical, electronic or computer means, whether the article reference (26), the certificate reference (30) and the owner reference (32) match in the data storing means (38); and
if they match, returning (14), through electrical, electronic or computer means, a first signal.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the method further includes the steps of
if the article reference (26), the certificate reference (30) and the owner reference (32) do not match, returning (16), through electrical, electronic or computer means, a second signal.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, further including the steps of, if the first signal is returned (14),
returning (18), through electrical, electronic or computer means, along with the first signal, a third signal indicating the possibility of replacing the owner reference (32).

4. Method according to claim 3, further including the steps of, after returning (18) the third signal,
receiving (20), through electrical, electronic or computer means, a new owner reference;
replacing (22), through electrical, electronic or computer means, the owner reference (32) in the data storing means (38) with the new owner reference.

5. Method according to any one of preceding claims, wherein each article reference (26) is unique in the data storing means (38).

6. Method according to any one of preceding claims, wherein each certificate reference (30) is unique in the data storing means (38).

7. Method for deterring counterfeiting of articles (24),
each article (24) being provided with an article reference (26) affixed or attached thereto and further provided with a certificate (28);
each certificate being provided (28) with a certificate reference (30) affixed or attached thereto; and
data storing means (38) being provided with each article reference (26), the corresponding certificate reference (30) and a corresponding substitutable owner reference (32);
characterized in that the method includes the steps of
receiving (10), through electrical, electronic or computer means, an article reference (26), a certificate reference (30) and an owner reference (32);
checking (12), through electrical, electronic or computer means, whether the article reference (26), the certificate reference (30) and the owner reference (32) match in the data storing means (38); and
if they match, returning (14), through electrical, electronic or computer means, a first signal.

8. System for deterring counterfeiting of articles (24), for instance valuable articles (24), including
articles (24) and certificates (30), wherein
each article (24) is provided with an article reference (26) affixed or attached thereto;
each article (24) is provided with a certificate (28);
each certificate (28) is provided with a certificate reference (30) affixed or attached thereto; and
data storing means (38) provided with each article reference (26), the corresponding certificate reference (30) and a corresponding substitutable owner reference (32);
characterized in that the system further includes
electrical, electronic or computer receiving means (34) for receiving an article reference (26), a certificate reference (30) and an owner reference (32);
electrical, electronic or computer checking means (36) for checking whether the article reference (26), the certificate reference (30) and the owner reference (32) match in the data storing means (38); and
electrical, electronic or computer returning means (40) for returning, if they match, a first signal.

9. System according to claim 8, returning means return, if the article reference (26), the certificate reference (30) and the owner reference (32) do not match, a second signal.

10. System according to claim 8 or 9, configured to cause a delay or threshold mechanism to be initiated when several triplets of article reference (26), certificate reference (30) and owner reference (32) are successively received 10 from the same location or origin, or in the cases said triplets relates to the same pair of article and certificate references.

Drawing